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Afghan opposition calls
for refugees' protection

5-23-99

ISLAMABAD (NNI): The Afghan opposition has asked international community
to ensure protection to the refugees returning to Afghanistan from the
neighbouring countries.

Spokesman of anti-Taliban alliance Ustad Muhaqqiq accused Taliban of
carrying out ethnic cleansing and expelling Hazaras, Uzbeks, Tajiks and
other ethnic minorities from the country.

Mohaqqiq told BBC that whenever some people return from Iran or Pakistan,
Taliban accuse them and kill them.

He Mohaqqiq asked the international community to take steps for protection
of refugees. He also asked Iran not to force Afghans to return because
Taliban were killing them.

He accused Taliban of carrying out killings and burning houses. He said
that over thirty thousand people left the city of Bamyan when Taliban captured
it on May 9 but Taliban killed the remaining people. He said Taliban also
captured over one thousand families in Bamyan and other areas.

2 Taliban commanders defected to opposition

5-23-99

ISLAMABAD (NNI): Two prominent Taliban commanders along with their 150
men defected to the Afghan opposition alliance in Samangan province on
Saturday, an opposition spokesman said.

Spokesman for Harakat-e-Islami Said Najib Tahmas in a statement, sent
to NNI from Afghanistan's Kunduz province, said that Taliban commanders
Messrs Almoss and Khadem defected to the alliance in district Maqsood in
Samangan province.

"Messrs Almoss and Khadem are well known local identities. Their
defections are expected to strengthen Alliance efforts in the province,"
Tehmas said.

He said the attacking army of the Taliban was dealt a major blow in
Abe Kalan and Arre Pol today when their forces retreated after suffering
heavy losses.

Iran rejects Taliban charge
it mounted incursion into Afghanistan

Sun 23 May 99 - 13:56 GMT

TEHRAN, May 23 (AFP) - Iran on Sunday rejected accusations by the Taliban
militia that it mounted a military incursion into western Afghanistan two
weeks ago.

"Creating baseless and false accusations only serves to mislead
public opinion while justifying the continuing crisis in Afghanistan,"
foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi told the official news agency
IRNA.

Such measures do "not help the current crisis in Afghanistan"
but only added to the "clashes and bloodshed in the region,"
Asefi said.

Last week the Taliban, which controls more than 80 percent of Afghanistan,
lashed out against Tehran for allegedly intervening in western provinces
bordering Iran.

"Iranian troops intruded into Farah and Herat provinces on Thursday
and carried out military operations against innocent Afghan civilians,"
said a protest note handed to Iranian diplomats in Islamabad.

Relations between the Sunni Moslem Taliban and Shiite Iran have remained
strained since the murder of nine Iranian diplomats during the militia's
capture of the northern opposition stronghold of Mazar-i-Sharif last August.

Like most of the rest of the international community, Iran recognizes
the government of former president Burhanuddin Rabbani, ousted by the Taliban
from Kabul in 1996.

Iran Rejects Taliban Accusation

TEHRAN (May 23) XINHUA - Iran on Sunday rejected an accusation by the
Afghan Taliban militia that it was involved in a recent rebellion in Herat
city, western Afghanistan.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said such a groundless
accusation is designed to divert the public opinion and justify the continued
crisis in Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

The Taliban authorities on Saturday accused Iran of organizing the ethnic
Hazaras in Herat to fight against the Taliban and urged Tehran to stop
intervention in Afghan affairs.

"Members of the group were not Hazaras alone, there were other
people among them too, organized by Iran," a Taliban spokesman said
after the militia suppressed the rebellion.

However, the Iranian spokesman said Iran has been urging the warring
factions in Afghanistan to hold talks in order to settle their dispute
and set up a broad-based government consisting of all ethnic and religious
groups.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has expressed its readiness to help find
a solution to the Afghan crisis and preserve the independence and territorial
integrity of Afghanistan, Asefi said.

The spokesman expressed regret over the continuation of conflicts, war
and bloodshed in Afghanistan.

Last week, the Taliban lodged a protest to Iran for launching a military
incursion into Afghanistan's western provinces. But Iran denied the accusation.

However, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps later announced
that its forces smashed two Afghan groups and killed 30 members in recent
armed clashes in the Torbat-e Jam region, the northeastern province of
Khorasan, which borders Afghanistan.

Zahir Shah held responsible for Afghans' miseries

Frontier Post Report
5-23-99

PESHAWAR - Criticising former Afghan monarch Zahir Shah for his policies
during his 40 years reign, an Afghan writer, Muhammad Ameen Basharat, has
claimed that the oppressed Afghan nation still remembers the dark days
of Zahir Shah. In a press statement issued here on Saturday, he said that
if Zahir had worked for the betterment of his country then Afghanistan
would be one of the developed country of the world today. Ameen said that
Afghanistan was enriched with minerals and natural resources but the rulers
did nothing to explore it. He regretted that although Afghan people were
very talented but their talent could not be properly tapped. He said that
Zahir instead of developing the country were indulged in acts meant for
his personal pleasure at the cost of pushing the entire nation towards
backwardness. Ameen added that Zahir looted public property and arranged
spacious accommodations for himself and his relatives. He said that during
his rule not only the country was made economically backward rather he
also encouraged communist elements in the country by officially permitting
their publications and cultural activities. He held Zahir responsible for
the twenty year long Afghan conflict which had resulted in killing of millions
of Muslims and complete destruction of Afghanistan. He regretted that Zahir
had himself left the country along with his friends.

Pakistan, Afghanistan sign
agreement for road construction

5-23-99

ISLAMABAD (NNI): Pakistan and Afghan government has signed an agreement
in Islamabad for the construction of road between the eastern town of Jalalabad
and capital Kabul, officials said on Saturday.

The 10 kilometers stretch of Road from Jalalabad to Kabul will be rehabilitation
to its original design during current financial, a Foreign Office statement
said.

The statement does not mention the cost of the project and time of the
construction and completion of the project.

NNI learnt from its sources that the construction would cost Rs. 30
million. More funds will also be allocated in the next financial year.

Construction will begin on June 1 and will compete within 6 months.
In the first phase road between Daranto to Sarkando would be rehabilitated
on the main Jalalabad-Kabul highway.

Moulvi Saadduin Saeid, Deputy Minister of Public Works of Afghanistan
signed the agreement with Pakistani officials at the Foreign Office.

Public Works Ministry of Afghanistan will manage this project under
technical supervision of National Highway Authority of Pakistan.

"As per desire of the Prime Minister, Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan
is actively taking part in rehabilitation and development of Afghanistan,"
the statement said.

Taliban Said to Kill Shiites

Saturday, May 22, 1999; 4:56 p.m. EDT

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Afghanistan's opposition alliance sought
the help of the United Nations on Saturday to end what it alleged were
unprovoked attacks by the Taliban religious army on minority Shiite Muslims,
known as Hazaras.

The opposition alliance, which comprises religious and ethnic minorities
including Shiite Muslim Hazaras, said 28 people were hanged Thursday and
Friday in Herat, 370 miles west of the capital, Kabul. It also said the
Taliban arrested 200 Hazaras and set fire to more than 300 homes in Herat.

``We have urged the United Nations to take notice of the Taliban's atrocities
against the minorities,'' opposition spokesman Hussain Anwari said.

The Taliban rule 90 percent of Afghanistan, and are fighting their northern-based
opponents on several fronts in a bid to extend control over the rest of
the country. The Taliban, which have imposed a strict version of Islamic
law, are Sunni Muslims and mostly ethnic Pashtun, the majority in Afghanistan.

The opposition, which controls the remaining 10 percent of Afghanistan,
regularly accuses the Taliban of attacking minority groups.

The Taliban's Information Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said Taliban soldiers
killed eight people who were planning to stage a revolt in Herat.

Also, ``a number of people were hanged later as a lesson to the conspirators,''
he said, without giving any details.

On Friday, the Taliban-controlled radio Shariat said 150 weapons were
seized from residents of a village nearby Herat. The radio said they had
been planning a revolt.

Protest rally against Mohmand
Agency operation

Frontier Post Report
5-23-99

PESHAWAR - Against the ongoing operation at Mohmand agency a peaceful
protest procession will be taken out by different political and social
organisations on Monday at 9. 30 a. m from Peshawar Press Club up to Qissa
Khwani Bazzar. The procession will be attended by Human Rights Commission
of Pakistan, Pakhtunkhwa Qaumi Party, Qabaili Jirga, Khyber Union of Bara,
Tehrik-i-Ittehad Qabail, inhabitants of Mohmand agency in Peshawar, and
other organisations of lawyers, intellectuals and human rights activists.
The demonstration is aimed at urging upon the government to forthwith stop
its brutal operation in Mohmand agency.